What is the difference between "in future" and "in the future"?

If you say "in future", the word "future" is an adjective and it needs something after it. "In *future years*", "in *future software releases*", etc. "In the future", where "future" is treated as a noun, refers to a general period of time ahead of the current time. You cannot say "in future" to mean the same thing. EDIT: Google says I'm wrong, though "in future" has been disappearing from all dialects since the 1800s.

The first sounds British, the second sounds American

I looked it up. Turns out it’s regional, with a little added nuance. When you’re talking about something happening at a specific point in the future, pretty much all standard dialects use “the”—as in, “I will move to Spain in the future.” But when you’re using it to mean “from now on,” there’s a regional difference. Americans still say “in the future,” and “in future” sounds very weird to us. But British speakers tend to say “in future” in this case. I don’t know about other dialects. More here: https://jakubmarian.com/in-the-future-vs-in-future-in-british-and-american-english/

I learned something while practicing my Google-fu. This comes from grammarhow.com: **“In future” is a British phrase that implies a permanent change has been made and will be sustained from now on. It is different from “in the future”, which can mean that something will happen at an unspecified later date. The latter phrase is used in American and British English.**

Hi, Brit here. The debate in the other comment thread has made me think a bit about this. I think I'd use "in future" when speaking about something that spans a long time in the future, like "I'll be careful in future". Although "I'll be careful in the future" also sounds fine, a little less natural but nothing wrong with it. But if it's a hypothetical single event I'd use "in the future" like "I'm going to buy a Ferrari in the future". "I'm going to buy a Ferrari in future" sounds like there's a word missing. Not a linguist, just a native speaker who's never thought about this until now 😁

For me, "in future" carries an implication of meaning *from now on* that "in the future" lacks. "In future, please ensure you wea a blue hat when going snowboarding". "In the future everyone will be wearing blue hats when snowboarding".

The phrase "in future" immediately classifies you as a non-native speaker.